First pick
Parc du Lain
Park or garden
2.8 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
Centralin the middle of Gestel
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Moreau.henri · CC BY 4.031%woodland
Outdoors in Gestel · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Gestel has more footpaths per km² than 8 in 10 French towns
Footpaths add up to 23 km across Gestel (3.8 km per km²). Mapped woodland covers 31% of Gestel. No protected area reaches Gestel; the nearest, Rivière Scorff, Forêt de Pont Calleck, Rivière Sarre (Natura 2000), is 3 km from the town center. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Rivière Scorff, Forêt de Pont Calleck, Rivière Sarre, 3 km
Woodland
31%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
23 km
3.8 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0.4 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
1
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc du Lain
The sea
3.1 km
from the town center to the coast
Throughout this page, the Morbihan median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median.
What kind of place
What kind of outdoors place is Gestel?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths3.8 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.A wooded commune31% mapped woodland, more than in 77% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.Near the seaThe coast is 3.1 km from the town center.Protected land nearbyRivière Scorff, Forêt de Pont Calleck, Rivière Sarre (Natura 2000) is 3 km from the town center.
What sets Gestel apart: its footpaths, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Gestel compares with French towns
Each figure against the 3,798 compared French towns (communes with an overall grade): the marked bar is the town’s, the line the median. Described, not graded.
Protected areas0%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
22out of 100
Woodland31%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
77out of 100
Footpaths3.8 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
82out of 100
Hiking routes0.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
28out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Gestel has the 3rd most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (2,578 to 2,619 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or (7.2 km per km²) to Hilsenheim (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or Rhône | 7.2 | 42% | 0% | 261 km |
| 2 | École-Valentin Doubs | 3.9 | 16% | 0% | 405 km |
| 3 | Gestel Morbihan | 3.8 | 31% | 0% | 3.1 km |
| 4 | Josselin Morbihan | 3.7 | 15% | 0% | 36 km |
| 5 | Champlan Essonne | 2.2 | 14% | 0% | 161 km |
| 6 | Tourville-la-Rivière Seine-Maritime | 2 | 15% | 15% | 55 km |
| 7 | Camiers Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 30% | 32% | On it |
| 8 | Wahagnies Nord | 1.9 | 30% | 0% | 76 km |
| 9 | Le Bourg-d'Oisans Isère | 1.7 | 33% | 100% | 180 km |
| 10 | Damparis Jura | 1.6 | 35% | 0% | 401 km |
| 11 | Hardricourt Yvelines | 1.6 | 15% | 0.4% | 118 km |
| 12 | Longueil-Annel Oise | 1.5 | 21% | 0% | 116 km |
| 13 | Bourguébus Calvados | 1.5 | 1.1% | 0% | 18 km |
| 14 | Le Palais Morbihan | 1.5 | 5% | 26% | On it |
| 15 | Saint-Jean-du-Gard Gard | 1.4 | 84% | 100% | 62 km |
| 16 | Beautor Aisne | 1.3 | 3.6% | 40% | 133 km |
| 17 | Bessèges Gard | 1.3 | 66% | 100% | 81 km |
| 18 | Villenauxe-la-Grande Aube | 1.3 | 13% | 0% | 223 km |
| 19 | Cattenom Moselle | 1.1 | 37% | 0% | 308 km |
| 20 | Vendres Hérault | 1 | 1.9% | 60% | On it |
| 21 | Pîtres Eure | 0.9 | 47% | 0.2% | 64 km |
| 22 | Ivry-la-Bataille Eure | 0.8 | 2.6% | 3.2% | 101 km |
| 23 | Villeneuve-Saint-Germain Aisne | 0.8 | 11% | 0% | 150 km |
| 24 | Grâces Côtes-d'Armor | 0.8 | 12% | 0% | 17 km |
| 25 | Villages du Lac de Paladru Isère | 0.8 | 21% | 0% | 230 km |
| 26 | La Calmette Gard | 0.7 | 29% | 0% | 43 km |
| 27 | Frelinghien Nord | 0.7 | 1% | 0% | 51 km |
| 28 | La Châtaigneraie Vendée | 0.6 | 4.5% | 0% | 48 km |
| 29 | Trélon Nord | 0.6 | 78% | 100% | 156 km |
| 30 | Le Cailar Gard | 0.4 | 2% | 68% | 17 km |
| 31 | Xertigny Vosges | 0.4 | 42% | 0% | 417 km |
| 32 | Frans Ain | 0.4 | 4% | 0% | 275 km |
| 33 | Baldersheim Haut-Rhin | 0.4 | 63% | 60% | 446 km |
| 34 | Saint-Yzan-de-Soudiac Gironde | 0.3 | 13% | 3% | 19 km |
| 35 | Charly-sur-Marne Aisne | 0.3 | 21% | 0% | 177 km |
| 36 | Clairac Lot-et-Garonne | 0.3 | 7.7% | 0% | 105 km |
| 37 | Semussac Charente-Maritime | 0.3 | 3.8% | 6.9% | 5.1 km |
| 38 | Vivy Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 15% | 100% | 140 km |
| 39 | Athies-sous-Laon Aisne | 0.2 | 8.9% | 0% | 159 km |
| 40 | Cauchy-à-la-Tour Pas-de-Calais | 0.1 | 0.4% | 0% | 54 km |
| 41 | Hilsenheim Bas-Rhin | 0 | 28% | 18% | 465 km |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park or wood. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
Green: parks, gardens and woods mapped on OpenStreetMap, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · INPN / PatriNat · IGN
Places to walk
Parks and woods to walk in, in and around Gestel
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc du Lain leads, at 2.8 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Rivière Scorff, Forêt de Pont Calleck, Rivière Sarre is the nearest protected area, 3 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Rivière Scorff, Forêt de Pont Calleck, Rivière Sarre
3 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0%
Designations overlap (a regional park can hold a Natura 2000 site), so the rows don’t add up; the first counts each piece of land once.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
Footpaths and woods in Gestel
Paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, and waymarked hiking routes, mapped on OpenStreetMap inside the commune; woods are mapped forest and woodland, private woods included.
Footpaths
23 km
3.8 km per km²
Hiking routes
0.4 km
waymarked: 0.1 km per km²
Woodland
31%
about 1.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
GestelMorbihan medianFrance median
Footpaths3.8
Hiking routes0.1
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
GestelMorbihan medianFrance median
Woodland31%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 82% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 77% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. Every home in Gestel is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
A named hiking route within 2 km
Other named walk
Circuit de Saint-Urchaut10 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Gestel: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Lorient-Lann Bihoue, 4.7 km away, and the daylight at the town’s latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 15 to 30 °C and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 16.0 | 15.6 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| High (°C) | 10 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 109 | 83 | 66 | 68 | 66 | 52 | 55 | 53 | 66 | 104 | 108 | 115 |
June is the driest month (52 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 23 °C). 115 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 22 nights a year. The climate in Gestel →
Neighbors
Next to Gestel
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
QuévenGuidelPont-ScorffRédenéCaudanLorientGestel
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Protected areas. National-park cores, national parks’ outer areas, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites, from INPN. A national park’s core is strictly protected; its outer area and a regional park are charters between communes, not bans. Designations overlap, so the total counts each piece of land once.
- Woodland. Forest and woods as OpenStreetMap maps them, private woods included: woods nobody has mapped are missing, and a mapped wood isn’t necessarily open to walkers.
- Footpaths and hiking routes. Footpaths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, then waymarked hiking routes (GR and others) measured apart. A route often follows a path or lane already counted: the two overlap. Paths nobody has mapped are missing.
- Green space nearby. The share of residents (INSEE’s 200 m grid) within 800 m, as the crow flies, of a mapped park, garden or wood edge. It measures nearness, not a way in. Guadeloupe and French Guiana have no grid: their pages say whether the town center is within 800 m.
- The coast. The straight-line distance from the town center to OpenStreetMap’s coastline, which follows the tide line into estuaries. A commune is on the coast when the coastline crosses its boundary.
- No grade yet. U.S. and UK towns have an Outdoors Grade; French towns don’t yet. Each figure is set beside the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade) in the département and in France, each figure its own median.
Questions about the outdoors in Gestel
Is Gestel in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Rivière Scorff, Forêt de Pont Calleck, Rivière Sarre, 3 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Gestel?
OpenStreetMap maps 23 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Gestel is woodland?
31% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Gestel near the sea?
No: the coast is 3.1 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Gestel?
April to September: long days, mild highs and little rain, from Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at the nearest suitable station.
Why is there no Outdoors Grade for French towns?
TownRatings grades the outdoors in the U.S. and the UK; the French figures are new and not graded yet. This page sets each one beside the median compared French town instead.
Sources: INPN / PatriNat (protected areas 2026, Natura 2000 2024) · © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL (paths, hiking routes, woods, coast, gardens) · INSEE, Filosofi 2021 200 m grid (residents) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Météo-France normals 1991–2020 · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 4, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.